A Long Time Coming
by castielsgrace
Summary: A look at Naruto's life and the choices he's had to make to get to where he is.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Alright, guys. First try at Naruto fanfiction here. It's really strange writing something that's not Glee, haha. But yeah! This takes place where it does because I know the area well. Also, no ninja. I know a lot of people hate that, but I like the idea of pulling the characters into real modern day. It's much more amusing, and you get to be creative!

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy. Thanks to my friend Michelle for the help. Even if she did spoil a _huge plot point_ in the manga for me.

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><p>I suck at opening sentences. I mean, I'm expected to come up with some sort of brilliant, but simple, and yet complex line that will draw people into your essay or story or whatever. It's no wonder we all spend so much time procrastinating. I suppose, though, if I would've just sucked it up and got it over with like the rest of them, I probably wouldn't be stuck doing this stupid essay to get my English grade up. I'm supposed to tell you my "life story". Well, my life has been pretty shitty so far, but I guess I'll just start at the beginning.<p>

I don't remember much of my early childhood, and the memories I do have are fading quickly. I know that I was happy, and I remember my parents quite clearly. My dad was the premier of Victoria, and my mother stayed at home with me during the day when he went to work. We would read stories and bake cookies and go to the park. I know I was happy; that our family was happy. I know that they loved me very much, and that I killed them.

Not on purpose, of course. I'm not some sort of crazed murder I promise. I was doing what every parent tells their child not to; I was playing with fire. I don't know how it happened exactly. I just know one moment I was playing with a lighter, and the next I was watch my house burn and yelling for my mother. I don't know how long I stood there wailing. I just know that at one point someone with a scar across his nose came to take me away.

The man's name was Iruka, and he's one of the few people who don't blame me for my parents' deaths. He seemed to be the only person who realized I was only five when it happened, and that I was probably confused. He was there for me when the police wanted to question me, and he comforted me when it finally sunk in my parents were gone. He took me away from the police station and told me he had a friend I could stay with.

That's how I ended up living with Kakashi in Vancouver, and how I ended up in Vancouver Central Secondary. Somehow everyone at the school knew about my parents, and I was isolated immediately after my admission. I suppose you could say that's when things got interesting, though.

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><p>"Can't you just home school me, Kakashi?" I complained as I walked downstairs.<p>

"No, I do have to go to work, you know. Plus, home school rates have gone up a lot." He looked up and rolled his eye. "Naruto, how many times have I told you to stop fiddling around with that uniform?"

I looked down at myself. "I just made the coat longer."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "And tied the tie around your head. Seriously, you're in high school now, it's time to start acting more your age."

I snorted and looked away, turning my back to the older man. "Naruto what did you do to the back of that thing?"

I shrugged and smirked as I walked out the door. Personally, I thought the orange swirl gave it personality. Plus, I really didn't want to be like every other person in the school. I had to be original somehow.

Unfortunately, Kakashi lived close to the school so I had to walk every day. Even the days it rained, which was always so great for my hair. Though I did like the ten minute walk for the most part. It gave me time to think without distractions, and I could just zone out more or less.

I found myself thinking a lot about my parents as I walked. There wasn't a day I didn't miss them, a day I didn't wish I hadn't been such a stupid, naïve little boy. I couldn't help but think that life would've been much better if it hadn't happened, because as much as I loved Kakashi, you couldn't just replace your parents.

When I got to school I knew this year would be no different than the past ones. Sure, we were all in our last year of school, and I knew that some people did mature a little bit over the summer, but we were still the same group of people we were a year ago.

People still moved away when I walked passed them in the hallway, and I still heard the word 'murder' whispered by the odd person. I tried to ignore them the best I could. I wanted to avoid getting in trouble this year.

"Hey, Uzumaki!" I turned and saw Kankuro headed my way with Gaara and Temari not far behind him. Gaara looked pissed, as usual, and Temari had a worried expression on her face. Kankuro seemed determined as he marched towards me.

"Leave it, Kankuro," Gaara warned darkly.

"I just want to ask him a question, Gaara." He replied, turning back to me. "I heard there was a huge fire downtown and I thought I'd ask the school psycho if he had anything to do with it."

Before the last word had even left his mouth, I was pushing him against the lockers next to us with my arm across his neck. It only took Gaara and Temari a second to respond before they were pulling us apart, Gaara holding me back by my arms.

"Naruto, stop." He said, "Just let it go. You _know_ he's an idiot."

I shrugged Gaara off and walked away from the three of them, heading towards my locker. They all thought they were _so_ funny making fun of the kid without parents. I hated them all, I swear to god I did.

I can't _wait_ to get out of this damn school. Hell, in a year I'd be getting out of the town; the country even! That is, if I could get into the army. I was hoping they'd look at my PE mark more than my academics.

"Hey, Naruto," I looked to my left and saw Hinata trying to catch up to me. I slowed my pace so she could fall in step with me, and she smiled when she caught up. Hinata was always so shy and quiet. I couldn't say I was fond of it. She was nice, though, and never brought up my parents. I considered her a friend, at least.

"Hey, Hinata. How was your summer?"

"Oh, it was, um, good." She blushed and looked away, "How was yours?"

"Same old, same old," I sighed, "Stuck with Kakashi 24/7."

She giggled and I smiled. "Don't you like Mr. Kakashi, though?"

"Yeah, but he's annoying sometimes. Always so clingy, too."

"Complaining again, Naruto?" I spun around and almost tripped over myself to see Sasuke and Sakura walking down the hall towards us, their hands interlaced between them. I felt a pang of jealousy, but brushed it off quickly.

"Sakura!" I cheered, running over to them. She smiled and waved.

"Sasuke." I nodded in his direction and he simply glared at me. I've never really understood his problem with me, and I've never really cared. Sure, when I heard that his brother had killed his parents and run off I'd sort of hoped we could talk about what is was like a bit… but that want passed as soon as I properly met him and decided he was just a self-centered prick.

I would never understand how he got Sakura. They were complete opposites, really. Not to mention how clingy she was with him. I swear I hadn't seen them separate since he agreed to go out with her just over four months ago.

"Did you have a good summer, Sakura?"

She nodded and linked her arm through mine, pulling Sasuke and I down the hall. "My parents took me to Paris."

"Wow, Paris?" I smiled brightly and gave her a thumbs up, "That's so cool!"

Sakura giggled and nodded, talking excitedly about what she had done in France. I glanced over at Sasuke and saw that he wasn't even listening. In fact, he looked completely bored. You'd think, with her being his girlfriend, he'd at least listen a little bit to what she had to say.

"Ino's family went, too." She concluded, pulling me away from my thoughts, "Ugh. I hate her so much."

I simply nodded. Her dislike of Ino was common knowledge around VCS. They'd both liked Sasuke since their freshman year of high school, and when he chose Sakura over Ino their small rivalry had grown into a full-blown war.

"So, Naruto, what's going on between you and Hinata?"

"Nothing," I responded with a shrug.

"Well she obviously likes you, dummy!" Sakura laughed. I already knew that, of course. It was blaringly obvious to me and the rest of the school. I just couldn't picture myself with anyone so self-conscious and shy.

"You should just give her a chance." Sakura pressed, "She's really great, I promise!"

I really didn't want to ask Hinata out. I only saw her as a friend, no matter how I tried to look at it, but I knew that Sakura wouldn't let up until I at _least_ took her out for lunch. So I told her that I'd ask her in my first block, since it was a class that we shared. Seemingly happy with the result, Sakura unlinked our arms and headed off down the hallway with Sasuke, leaving me outside my first class, English.

I sat down beside Hinata in the first row. I saw her blush and duck her head, obviously confused as to why I'd sat next to her. Everyone knew this was my worst, and least favorite, subject and that I preferred to sit in the back of the classroom.

"Ah, Naruto. You're awfully close today. Not sure if I like it." I looked up and saw my English teacher standing above us.

"Hey, Granny Tsunade." I shot back. She simply rolled her eyes and moved to the whiteboard at the front of the class. She'd grown to accept that I would never stop calling her by the nickname after the tenth time she sent me down to the principal's office.

"So, Hinata," I said, turning back to her, "Would you like to come to DQ with me today at lunch?"

I watched as her eyes widened and her face slowly went red again. "W-What?"

"I just thought it'd be cool to hang out. Y'know, without other people around."

"W-with me?" She asked, "Really?"

"Well who else would I ask?" I nudged her shoulder playfully and she shied away from me.

"O-okay." She nodded her head. "That'd be great, Naruto."

"Naruto!" Granny Tsunade shouted, chucking the piece of chalk she was holding at my head. "Stop distracting Hinata and pay attention!"

I stuck my tongue out at her and sat back, putting my feet up on the desk. She looked like she was planning on yelling at me, but instead she simply shook her head and turned back to the board. I let my head fall back and my eyes drift closed, falling asleep almost immediately.

"_Look at that kid."_

"_I heard he killed his parents."_

"_No, I heard he killed his whole family!"_

_The whispers I heard as I walked through the hallway of my new school pierced through me, each one feeling like a stab to the heart. This is why Kakashi had hired a home school teacher for me. He thought by now they'd have forgotten, it's been almost ten years, after all, but apparently he was wrong. _

_I couldn't understand, though. Why was everyone bringing it up? Why did they all seem so scared, so disgusted, by me? Did they actually believe that a five year old kid had purposely killed his parents?_

"_What do you think you're doing, Uzumaki?" I turned and saw a boy that looked about a year older than me. He wore a hat on his head that made him look like he had cat ears, and put some sort of weird purple face paint on his face. _

"_Going to class." I responded quietly._

"_Surely they didn't let you into a school." He looked around at his classmates, "How do we know that he's not going to burn down the school with us inside like he did with his parents?"_

_He, and the rest of my classmates, started to laugh. I felt tears stinging at my eyes, but I refused to let any of them see me cry. So I ran. I ran upstairs, knowing that the building had access to the roof. When I got outside, I closed my eyes and let the wind brush against my cheeks. It felt nice… calming. I took a step forward, closer to the edge. _

"_Suicide's pathetic." I spun around quickly, taking a step back and not realizing how close to the edge I'd gotten until I felt myself falling backwards. _

_I shut my eyes tightly, but before I had the chance to panic I felt a hand grabbing my wrist and pull me back onto the roof with enough force to send us both flying to the floor. When I opened my eyes I saw a kid with black hair beside me._

"_Are you stupid?" He asked as he struggled to get up. "Do you seriously think killing yourself will solve all your problems?"_

"_I wasn't…"_

"_You may think you're special, that you're the only one who's lost someone close to you but you're not." He started heading towards the school, pausing just before he opened the door to look back at me, "You need to get over yourself."_

"Naruto!" I jumped at the sound of Tsunade's hands slamming against the table. I lost my balance on the chair and fell backwards, the sounds of the class' laughter echoing as I woke up fully.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"You were sleeping," She threw her hands up; "You're graduating this year, Naruto. You need to stop slacking off!"

"Whatever, Granny." I stood up and walked towards the door, waving at her as I walked out the door and ignored her calling my name.

I had always hated that dream. It was a reminder of how weak and pathetic I was once. Let's just say that after that, anyone who tried to bring up my parents would end up with a bruise, at the very least. Ever since then, the roof has become my escape. No one, aside from Sasuke, ever came up and the teachers had long stopped trying to stop me. Most of them had long given up on me, anyway.

Not that I cared. I hated school and as long as I graduated, the grade didn't matter to me. I didn't plan on going to University, and I knew already that it was unlikely I'd amount to much. It was something that I'd just come to accept over the years.

I wasn't surprised when I found Sasuke on the roof. He usually came up on the first day of school simply to get away from everyone. He was Mr. Popular after all, though why it was so would always beat me. He was just so… depressing to be around. Though no one could really blame him, with the past he had.

"Hey." I said, moving to stand behind him and look over the buildings surrounding our school. He nodded but didn't say anything. I don't know how long passed before either of us said something.

"Did you ask Hinata out?"

I wrinkled my nose, "Yeah. I don't know why Sakura is so determined though. It's not going to work out between us."

He shrugged, "I'm sure she just wants the poor girl to finally get over her crush on you."

"What's that supposed to mean."

"No girl could like you if they _actually_ got to know you." He smiled, "You're an idiot. Girls hate immaturity and you've got it in spades."

"I suppose they like the 'I-hate-my-life-type', then?" I asked, "I don't get it. You're such a bore. How do you do it?"

He shrugged and started heading back to the school. "See you around, Naruto."


	2. Chapter 2

I picked Hinata up after English, waving at Tsunade as we walked away. Hinata kept her head down, but I could still see how red her face was. "Are you okay, Hinata? Your face is really red…"

"I-I'm fine," She stuttered. We walked slowly through the halls of the school and I kept my eyes strained for Sasuke and Sakura. I really didn't want to go alone with Hinata. She didn't seem like the type to be able to hold a good conversation.

I caught sight of them just as they were approaching the back doors of the school. "Sasuke! Sakura! Wait up!" I called. They didn't stop. Instead, Sasuke reached forward and opened the door for Sakura, who blushed.

"Hey!" I shouted, but they simply walked out the door.

"I'm… I'm sure they just didn't hear you…" Hinata said quietly from beside me.

"Yeah," I replied. I stared after them for a moment before grabbing Hinata's hand and dragging her towards the front entrance of the school. She didn't speak as we walked. When I tried to talk to her, she would either blush and nod or say something so quietly I didn't even know what she was trying to say. I knew Sakura just wanted me to have someone (She's convinced I'm lonely) but Hinata and I? How could we possibly work when she couldn't even look me in the eye without getting all flustered like that?

Even when we sat down to eat in DQ she was silent and she took very small, tentative bites of her salad. Who orders salad at a fast food joint, anyway? I sighed and placed my drink back down on the table. "Look, Hinata… I'm really sorry about this but… I really don't see this working."

She looked up with wide eyes before dropping her gaze back to the table, her cheeks burning still. "O-oh."

"I'm sure you're a really nice girl and everything, but I just can't see myself with someone who can't even hold a conversation with me. I need someone who's not afraid to tell me I'm an idiot, not someone who'll agree with everything I say."

She didn't say anything, so I stood up and walked out. I felt terrible. I knew I could've handled that better, and I wished I hadn't had to do it, but I knew I didn't want to date her. I wasn't going to lead her on.

I didn't have anywhere else to go, no one else to hang out with, so I went back to the school. The halls were still packed with the younger kids, but I wasn't planning to hang around in the hallways anyway. I went straight to the roof, which seemed to be one of the few places I could just go and think.

I had only a few minutes of peace before I heard the door to the roof open behind me. I didn't need to turn around to see who it was.

"Sakura's looking for you." Sasuke said. "She's pissed, what the hell did you do?"

I sighed, "I told Hinata I didn't want to date her."

"That would explain a lot, I guess." He came to stand beside me, looking over the city.

"What do you mean, ttebayo?"

He shrugged, "She looked pretty upset, is all."

"Oh."

"You really don't know how to let a girl down gently, do you dobe?" He laughed, "You really do leave a path of destruction wherever you go."

"As if you're any better. Look at poor Ino." I laughed when he scowled and then the two of us simply stood and looked out over the city in silence for a moment.

"Just go and find Sakura, yeah?" Sasuke said, heading back to the door.

"Sure." I said unconvincingly. We both knew talking to her in the state she was in would be pure stupidity. Things would just get worse.

"Hey, Sasuke?" I called after him, not bothering to turn around, "Thanks."

Instead of a response I heard the door open and close and then I was alone of the roof again.

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><p>"What were you <em>thinking?" <em>Sakura screeched as soon as I walked into the gym. PE was the only block Sakura, Sasuke and I shared. I almost didn't show because I knew that this would happen. Sasuke didn't even bother to try and hide his smirk.

"Sakura-"

She put a hand up to silence me, "She really liked you, you idiot! What on earth gave you the idea that dumping her in a DQ was a good plan?"

"I knew it wasn't going to work, I didn't want to lead her-"

"You dumped her in a DQ because she was too _shy_." She threw her arms up, "Why are you such an idiot?"

"I was trying to be a decent-"

"_Decent?_ The poor girl ran out in _tears_!" She shouted at me. I was starting to loose my temper, and I knew if I didn't get out soon I'd end up doing something I regretted.

I spun on my heel and started to walk away, ignoring her screeching for me to stop, just to find myself face-to-face with our PE teacher Asuma. I shiver went down my spine and I cringed away from him.

"Where do you think you're going, Uzumaki?" he asked. He was one of the only teachers that noticed or cared when I skipped, and he would hunt me down and drag me to class by my ear if I tried. That was part of the reason why I had such a good grade in his class.

"I need to cool down." I said, looking over my shoulder at Sakura briefly before looking back to him.

"No."

"C'mon-"

"Arguing with me, Naruto?" He lifted an eyebrow, "You can go run five laps, then."

I let out a groan, but I didn't want to be running laps for the rest of class so I didn't argue with him. Just as I reached the track I heard Asuma give Sasuke two laps for laughing at me. I slowed my pace, letting him catch up to me. We ran in silence for the first lap. He looked bored, and even though Sakura kept trying to get his attention he either didn't hear her, or he pretended not to.

"Hey, are you an ass, or are you just blind?" I asked him after a moment of thought.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well you've got Sakura, who's clearly falling at your feet for attention and yet you don't even glance over when she waves?" I threw my hands up, "What's the deal?"

"Maybe I don't _want_ her 'falling at my feet', as you put it." Sasuke shot back, "Jesus, it may look all fine and dandy from your side, Naruto, but it gets annoying sometimes."

"So you just ignore her."

"Just stay out of things you don't know about, Naruto." Sasuke said as we reached the top of the track. I had no time to argue back as he walked slowly back to the PE class.

I pushed myself to run harder, the anger steaming inside me pushing me forward. He didn't deserve her, how couldn't she see that? How the hell were all the girls at the damn school so blinded by him? So he was a pretty face, whatever. Surely they should've noticed _something_ other than that by now.

I didn't understand why it upset me so much. I kept trying to tell myself if was because I was jealous that he got Sakura and I didn't, but somehow I knew that wasn't the case. Something about him just irked me, and yet I still refused to just end the messed up 'friendship' we had.

"Took you long enough, Naruto!" Azuma shouted as I ran up to him. "Now go join Sakura's team!"

He threw a blue pinnie at me, and I just managed to catch it, wrinkling my nose at the colour. I _hated_ dark colors, which was the main problem I had with the school uniform. And the main reason why I felt the need to add some orange to it.

I slipped the pinnie on as I ran over to find Sakura talking excitedly to her team about something. "We're going to beat the boys, right girls?"

I clued in at that point to the fact I was the only male on the team. I spun around and saw Azuma laughing at me from the sidelines, "That's what you get for talking back, Uzumaki!"

"Naruto," Sakura said, punching me lightly in the shoulder, "You better not go easy on them, you've got to help us girls kick ass okay?"

I nodded and gave her a thumbs up. She told me I'd be playing forward, and I almost jumped with joy. The guys always tried to put me in goal when we played soccer, being able to be in such an important position was _awesome_.

The game was faced-paced and I could _feel_ the competition in the air as the girls (plus me) fought to beat the guys. In the beginning it didn't look to great for us, but by the half way point, we had pulled a good three goals ahead. I had to admit that without me in goal, the guys had no chance. Not to mention Shikamaru's lack of interest in the sport adding to his lack of effort in trying to actually stop the ball from entering the net.

In the end we had pulled ahead by 15 goals, leaving the guys with only 6. As we all gathered around Azuma we could almost _feel_ their disappointment and embarrassment in the air around us.

"Well," Azuma said once we had all gathered, "I have to say girls—and Naruto—great job. Great teamwork, fantastic strategy. Well played win for you all. And guys? That was just embarrassing to watch. Honestly, do you guys know how to communicate? It's not that hard to tell someone you're going for the ball. Get it together for next time, yeah?"

There was a chorus of groans from the guys and then we were all dismissed. We went quickly to the change rooms, all eager to shower and get changed out of the sweaty clothes.

"That was pathetic," Shikamaru said monotonously when we got into the guys' changing room. "They kicked our ass."

"Yeah well we had a pretty crappy goalie," Neji shot back at him.

Everyone went silent for a moment before Sasuke spoke up, "They also had Naruto. He was the one doing all the actual work."

"Yeah, that was a bit unfair of Azuma." Neji said, "You helped them win, though. Way to go back on your own."

"Because you all value me so much when I _am_ on your team, right?" I spit at him. "I finally got to play, do you really think I was going to slack off?"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"It _means_ that you all suck." I pulled the orange PE shirt off, replacing it with the white dress shirt before pulling the shorts off as well. I heard a few of them snicker at the orange boxers I had on, but I was used to that at this point. "When I actually am on your team, you force me into the worst position. The girls actually let me play a good position and, y'know, _use_ the skills I have."

I pulled on my jacket and then my headband, tying tightly and then leaving the room. I really didn't feel like hearing their protests, or agreements for that matter. I had one more class left in the day, but I really didn't feel like sitting through another science class, so I decided to head home early and hope Kakashi wouldn't be there waiting.

Because of sheer luck, I managed to get out of the school without being spotted by any of the teachers. I broke into a run as soon as I got out of the doors, not wanting to take any chances, and I kept running until I was a good block away. I couldn't wait to just get home, put my headphones on and lay on my bed for the afternoon. When I got home to find the door unlocked, however, I knew that I wouldn't be so lucky.

"Naruto?" I heard footsteps coming from the kitchen, and then Kakashi was standing in the hallway right in front of me. "What are you doing home, your school isn't over for an hour yet!"

"It's just science," I mumbled miserably.

"Just science- Naruto, you need to stop this now. I've been pretty patient with you and your terrible attendance records over the past couple of years, but I've had enough. It's getting ridiculous now."

"Well maybe if the classes weren't so boring, I wouldn't feel the need to skip." I squared my shoulders and walked past him, "We both know I'm not going anywhere important afterwards, Kakashi."

I slammed the door to my room closed behind me and slid down it, pulling my knees to my chest and resting my forehead on them. I felt pathetic, worthless. I always did when he looked at me like that, such disappointment in his eyes.

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><p><strong>AN:** Sorry to anyone who thought this would be NaruHina, haha. As of right now, I'm not sure if there will actually be a pairing featured in this story, but if it's anything it will (most likely) be SasuNaru. Thanks for taking the time to read, you're all lovely! :D


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Okay, so things get a little bit... heavy in this chapter. I'm sorry, I know this probably seemed like it was going to be a really cheerful fic in the beginning. But honestly, this chapter right here was the first idea I had for it, and the story kind of grew around it. I was a bit weary about it, and I contemplated changing it (was going to discuss this with a friend of mine, but she wasn't online and I want to get a chapter up tonight) but decided that I like what I have in mind for the story.

Which means it's time for me to put some warnings in, eh?

**Language.** My headcannon for this characters is that they will swear when they're angry. I'm a teenager, the same age as I have Naruto in this fic, and I know I swear quite a lot, especially when I'm angry. If you don't like it, I'm sorry. If they seem OOC, I'm also sorry. I tried to keep them in character as much as I could under the circumstances.

**Spoilers**. Um, they're pretty old spoilers but they're there. Mostly to do with a few characters that showed up wayyyy at the beginning of Shippuden. So yeah, nothing major. (Seeing I'm not even caught up on the manga yet! D: Chapter 513 currently.) If you are concerned, though, and don't mind a spoiler for the story, you can message me and I'll tell you the name of the character(s) in here.

More warnings will most likely pop up as we go along, I just don't want to give anything in my plot away because of them.

Geez, sorry for the long author's note, and I hope you enjoy, cause I'm loving writing this! :D

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><p>Never had I ever been so glad for a weekend in my life. Seriously, apparently it was 'scold Naruto about his school habits' week or something because every single teacher I have told me I needed to smarten up and start focusing more on school. Not to mention the fact that he had to sit through English every day with Hinata <em>right there<em>, and I _knew_ that I'd hurt her and even if I knew it was better to let her down before she grew any fonder of me… I just hate hurting people. Yeah, I'll beat the crap out of anyone who tries to call me a murderer, but people like Hinata just didn't deserve to be hurting.

"Hey, Naruto!" Kakashi called from downstairs, pulling me out of my thoughts. I pulled myself off my bed with a groan, heading out into the hallway and downstairs.

"What?" I mumbled miserably.

"Can you go pick up some milk?" He pointed to the empty jug on the counter, "We're out."

"Why can't you go get it? I'm busy."

"Sitting in your room and staring at your ceiling doesn't make you 'busy', Naruto, it makes you lazy."

I spun on my heal and started walking back upstairs, muttering complaints under my breath. Once in my room, I threw on a pair of worn jeans and my favorite orange hoodie, because even though it was still September, it was cold as hell. Damn Canada. I grabbed my phone and headphones off my desk on my way out, and then hurried downstairs.

I found Kakashi seated in front of his computer in the living room. I held my hand out to him expectantly, and he placed a $20 bill in my hand. "I want the change back."

"I don't think so," I started walking towards the door, shooting the remark over my shoulder, "I'm running an errand for you, the least you can do is let me treat myself to some ramen."

I slipped my headphones in as I walked away from our house. Feeling the cold already starting to seep through my hoodie, I was glad that the grocery store and ramen shop weren't far away. Walking through the packed streets, I zoned out and thought about different ways to convince the old man at Ichiraku to give me some extra ramen today. I felt my stomach grumble, and hurried my pace.

Thankfully it was already close to seven when I reached the grocery store, and it was pretty empty. I hurried to the back of the store and grabbed the first jug of 1% I saw. I made my way quickly back to the front, placing the jug down loudly on the '10 items or less' counter and startling the girl working behind it.

I saw her look directly at my shirt—pulling a face immediately at the colour—before slowly looking up to my face. Her look of disgust only deepened, and I heard her mutter under her breath as she swiped the milk through.

"I'm sorry, didn't catch that?"

"I was just wondering what in god's name possessed you to get whiskers tattooed onto your face." She smiled sweetly then, holding out her hand, "$2.93 please."

"They're scars," I said darkly, handing her the twenty.

"Oh, please. How many people _actually_ believe that?" She scoffed, handing me my change. I checked quickly to make sure she'd given me the right amount—she was kind of a bitch, I didn't want to risk it—before grabbing the jug off the counter.

I looked back at her, shooting her the darkest glare I could and watching as she shied away from me just enough that I knew she was scared, "Considering there were half a dozen people watching and three people filming as some idiot carved the lines into my face, a good deal."

"I-I'm sorry," She stuttered, "I didn't know."

I snorted and just walked away. I knew as soon as the cold air outside hit me that I'd been too harsh, but I _hated_ when people brought up the whiskers. They were already a constant reminder of what I'd been through; I didn't really want to be reminded when I wasn't looking in a mirror.

I reached Ichiraku within two minutes, and the smell of ramen that hit me as soon as I opened the door made me feel better instantaneously. "Hi there, Naruto! Long time no see!"

"Hey Ayame, how's it been?" I asked of the shop owner's daughter. She'd become sort of like a sister to me over the years I'd been coming.

"Eh, a bit slow lately, but we're hoping the rush will pick up again soon."

"Is your pops around?" I asked, seating myself on the closest of the bar stools lined up along the counter. Teuchi walked in from the back before Ayame had the chance to answer. His face lit up immediately after seeing me.

"Naruto! How's my best customer doin'?"

"Hn, school." I shrugged, "One order of your best ramen, please!"

* * *

><p>By the time I left Ichiraku's it was well past nine. I patted my stomach happily, feeling nice and full after the six bowls of Ramen I'd had. Never have I been so thankful for the tab Teuchi let me keep, because the two bowls I would've been able to afford wouldn't have been near enough.<p>

The streets were almost completely deserted, and the lights above my head flickered slightly. It was a lot colder now than it had been when I left, and I suddenly wished I'd thrown on one of my warmer sweatshirts.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Naruto Uzumaki." My blood went cold as soon as I heard the voice, a shiver running down my spine. My shoulders tensed and I turned in the direction I heard it coming from. "Really, Naruto. You've got to stop wearing such bright colours, this is almost _too_ easy."

"Get away from me." I said, cursing inwardly when my voice shook.

The figure stepped out from the shadows, directly into the flickering beam of light I was standing under. Tobi smirked, noticing the panic in my eyes. "What's the matter, Naruto? Aren't you happy to see us?"

My eyes went wide at his words, and I realized that meant we weren't alone. I spun around quickly, seeing two—no three, more shadows. My heartbeat quickened. I had to get away. Quickly. I couldn't let this happen again!

Tobi just laughed, stepping closer. So close, that I could almost feel his breath on my neck, if it weren't for the mask the brunette wore whenever these encounters happened. Actually, all of them did _something_ to their faces. So I couldn't tell anyone about them, I guessed. I refused to turn around, refused to even acknowledge him anymore.

"You're not thinking of running are you?" He asked coldly, his voice barely above a whisper. I stood, frozen in place, as memories shot across my vision; memories of the other times the group had found me. "Surely you know better than to do that by now."

Just then Kisame stepped into the light. His teeth—sharpened into points—were bared viciously, and his eyes seemed to shimmer gleefully. Everything about him was so familiar, and it made my skin crawl.

"Not yet, Kisame." Tobi said, still standing behind me. "You'll get your chance… if you're patient."

"What do you want?" I demanded, though in the pit of my stomach I already knew the answer.

"What we always want, Naruto: for you to join us." I felt his fingers brush lightly along my arm, then across my lower back. "Your youth would be good for our group, even if your brains wouldn't be too helpful."

"He'd be the perfect toy," Kisame hissed. The comment caused Tobi to tense, before hastily making his way over to Kisame. He started muttering quietly to the man, and I took it as the only chance I'd get. I spun around so my back was to the two of them, and I ran. My heart was racing, and just as I thought I was about to get away, I felt someone grab tightly to my wrist.

"I don't think so." Tobi said. I didn't know how he'd gotten to me so fast, but I felt my heart drop. That was going to be my only chance. I knew these guys; they wouldn't let me out of their sight now. The way I saw it, I had two options: I could fight them and just chance it, or I could let them take me with them. I shuddered at just the thought of the latter. Who _knew_ what'd happen if I actually went with them.

So I went with the first option. Since Tobi was only holding one of my arms, I used the other to slam my elbow into his stomach. He let out a choked cry of pain and started coughing, his grip on my arm loosening just enough for me to pull free. As much as I wanted to stay and just beat the shit out of him, I could already see the rest of them coming towards me. I started to run, as fast as I could.

I looked over my shoulder briefly as I did. Four of them had stopped to check on Tobi, but the other three were starting to run after me. I forced myself to turn back around a second too late, and ran straight into someone. We both fell to the ground with the impact.

"Shit, shit, shit." I said, trying to untangle myself from whoever it was before they caught up with me. I could feel myself trembling and I felt weak, but I couldn't lie about the fact that they scared me shitless.

"Naruto?" I finally got a good look at the guy I'd run into, noticing it was Sasuke. "Naruto, what the hell?"

I opened my mouth to explain before closing it again. I looked behind me again and saw that all seven of them were now heading our way. Clearly Tobi had told them to just deal with Sasuke and get me. I quickly scrambled to my feet, pulling the raven haired boy with me. "Fuck, Sasuke, run!"

"Naruto, I-"

"Run!" I shouted. When he made no motion to move, I grabbed his hand and bolted, pulling him with me. My heart was pounding against my rib cage and, despite my best efforts; I could feel my composure starting to go. _Shit,_ I thought, _Shit, no. They can't get a hold of Sasuke._

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled as he was dragged with me, "What the _fuck_ is going on?"

"Not now!" I shouted back, forcing myself to go faster despite the burning I could feel in my lungs. Each step I took seemed to make it worse, but I didn't care. I needed to get us as far away from there as I could. I glanced behind me briefly, just in time to see them split up. They were going to cut us off. "Shit!"

"What?"

"We—we need to—we need to get of the streets." I said, racking my brain for answers, for a way to get out. "We _have_ to get away from here."

I was expecting Sasuke to try and ask why again; instead he started pulling me towards a house. I glanced behind me and saw, to my amazement, that there was no one there. _They must think we'll continue going forward,_ I realized as we reached the front door of the house. Sasuke pulled a small silver key out of his pocket and shoved it into the lock. He didn't let go of my hand, instead pushing the door open with on hand and pulling me inside. He closed and locked the door quickly before walking into the next room and pulling all the blinds down.

I let myself be pulled around the house, following after Sasuke as he shut all the blinds. I started to shake again. I hated showing this—this… fear, but I couldn't help it. They had approached me like that many times before, but usually when I said no they'd just beat me up. This time Tobi had seemed a lot more persistent. It also didn't help that I had just dragged Sasuke into it all.

As soon as all the blinds were closed, Sasuke dragged me into what I assumed was the living room. He told me to sit down on the couch. I sat down gingerly. I didn't like where this was going. I knew what would happen next, and I didn't know if I could explain it to him without dragging him in further.

"Naruto." I looked up at him and saw he wasn't furious like I'd expected. Instead he seemed… Well, he almost seemed worried. Which was insane. This _is _Sasuke we're talking about.

"Yeah?"

"You're shaking." He nodded to my hands. I looked away from his questioning gaze. "What the hell happened out there?"

"Nothing," I mumbled, "Just some idiots who thought it'd be fun to chase the notorious Uzumaki kid."

"Bullshit." I heard him move, and then he was kneeling right in front of me. "You better stop lying to me, Naruto. There's no way in hell you'd be as traumatized as you are now if they were just a bunch of fucking punks."

"Just drop it, Sasuke."

"No. Now tell me what the fuck is going on."

"It's nothing." I insisted, "They like to bug me, s'all. Tonight it just got a bit more… more."

"What do you mean they 'bug you'? What kind of bugging are we talking about here?"

"It's nothing, Sasuke. Really!" I tried to fake a smile despite the sickening feeling growing in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't stop thinking about what Tobi had said all those months ago; the only thing that had stopped me from getting help right away.

"Naruto, I swear to god if you don't tell me right now what the fuck is going on, I'm going to get Kakashi's ass over here." Sasuke growled.

"No!" I said quickly. Kakashi wasn't getting brought into this, too. I didn't know if I could handle that.

"_What happened_?" Sasuke asked again.

"They want me to join some sort of organization, okay? I don't know what it is, I don't even know what they…" I swallowed around the bile rising in my throat as I thought about tonight. I suddenly had a pretty good idea of what some of them had in mind. "I don't know what they want with me." I finished.

"And what happened tonight? What changed?"

"They were being more forceful." I muttered quietly.

"What?"

"They were being more forceful!" I all but shouted in his face. "I don't know why, so don't even fucking ask."

"I wasn't going to."

"And then you had to be fucking walking around the corner!" I continued, standing up and walking away from him, "Which is just fan-fucking-tastic. Now they're going to be after you because I'm a fucking idiot and I fucking acknowledged you so now they know I know you and they know you know."

"What do you mean they're going to be after me?" I heard Sasuke ask timidly from behind me.

I spun around to face him, putting all my anger into what I said, not caring that he really didn't deserve to be on the receiving end. "I _mean_ that they're going to try and fucking kill you, you idiot! God, this is _exactly _what I was trying to avoid."

"It's okay, Naruto." Sasuke was obviously trying to calm me down, but I just… I couldn't think about that right now. All I could think about was how I was going to fix it. An idea popped into my head, and as much as I hated the thought of going through with it, it was my best bet at the moment.

"It's not yet, but it will be." I said quietly as I turned and exited the raven's house. I could hear him shouting after me, but I broke into a run. I _had_ to do this. I didn't have a choice any more. Now that they knew who Sasuke was—and I was sure they knew. He was quite legendary—they could find out where I went to school, if they didn't already know.

I ran all the way back to the spot where Tobi had confronted me. I half expected them to already be gone, but they weren't. All eight of them were standing there, and judging by the look on Kisame's face, they knew exactly what I was about to do.

"Hello, Naruto." Tobi said coldly. I couldn't tell if he was still angry about me hitting him because of the mask, but I had a feeling he wasn't necessarily happy with it. "Did you need something?"

"I'll join," I blurted out. I felt as if a weight was dropped on my chest, and it was becoming increasingly hard to breathe, but I knew I had to do this.

"How wonderful!" I could hear the smirk in Tobi's tone, and I could feel the ramen from earlier threatening to come back up. I forced myself not to puke. I had to at least _look_ strong if I wanted to make a deal with the man.

"I'll join," I repeated, "As long as you promise none of my friends or schoolmates—teachers included—will be killed or injured. Mentally _or_ physically."

Tobi tilted his head to the side in apparent consideration, but with just one look at Kisame, I knew it was just to humour me. He spoke after only a moment longer; "Deal."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** And now it gets fun. Yup, angst be on it's way, folks. Because it's seriously so much fun to write. Also, I'm going to be adding warnings up here as I go along, so please watch out for that!

**There are drugs in this fic.** They are forced onto an unwilling person. Which means that eventually, there is going to be someone going through Withdrawal, which is not a pretty process.

Alright, guys. Thanks for reading, and thanks to my beta for this chapter Elizabeth Anne19~

* * *

><p>I looked out over Vancouver, wondering mindlessly what I would be forced to do for Tobi. I had to decided to just skip English today: I really didn't feel like dealing with Tsunade or Hinata.<p>

"Naruto!" I tensed immediately. I knew Sasuke would come find me at some point today, I knew I'd have to face him eventually, but I was really hoping for a bit more time to think about what to say before he found me.

"Hi Sasuke!" I turned to face him, forcing a smile onto my face. "How's it goin'?"

"Cut the crap, Uzumaki." He growled, "Where the hell did you go after you ran off last night?"

"Home," I said quickly. "I went home."

"What happened to the people chasing us?" He pressed, "I thought they were going to try and kill me?"

"I was over-exaggerating." I said, looking away from him. I didn't know how well I could lie if I was forced to look into those eyes. "It's all fine now."

"No way. You were scared shitless of them last night."

"Was not." I shot back, though even I had to admit that I didn't sound very convincing.

"Right. So you were shaking because they're nice people, right? We had to hide because they just wanted to say hello?"

"Just drop it, Sasuke." I pushed past him, stopping briefly at the door to look back at him. "It's fixed now; it's no longer any of your concern."

* * *

><p>I stood in the middle of the parking lot at the abandoned warehouse not too far from my school. Tobi had told me to wait there for Kisame so he could bring me to their headquarters downtown. Apparently he needed to discuss some business with me. To put it simply, I wish I was anywhere but here. I wish I could just run, but I couldn't. Not knowing everyone was in danger. Not that I could at this point. A black car with one-way windows was pulling into the parking lot, and before the door even opened I knew it was Kisame.<p>

"Get in, kid." He was smirking at me, and I briefly wondered if he _ever_ stopped smirking. I did as he said, slipping into the passenger's side and pulling my seatbelt on. I did _not_ like being this close to the man, I discovered. His entire car smelled like fish, too, which wasn't helping my already unsettled stomach.

We drove for a couple blocks before Kisame stopped in front of a Toys 'R' Us. I raised my eyebrows, but didn't say anything as I followed him into the building. The store was huge, though most of the floors were offices. We walked through the front entrance, and I was shocked to see the lady working nod respectfully to Kisame as we walked past.

He led me to an elevator, and hit the button for the twelfth floor. We were both silent as the elevator went up, and I could almost feel the tension in the air. When the ding rang to signal we'd reached our floor, I jumped. The doors of the elevator opened, and on the other side were all the members of the organization.

"Hello, Naruto." Toby said. He was still wearing the mask, and I was starting to wonder if he ever took it off. "How nice of you to join us. Won't you take a seat?"

I looked at the chair he was pointing to and carefully sat down. I tried to make as little noise as possible; each one sounding ten times louder than it actually was in the silent room.

"So, I think it's about time you find out a little about the organization, don't you?" He didn't wait for a response, instead just nodding to himself and continuing on. "We call ourselves the Akatsuki. We're an underground drug dealing company for the rich in the Lower Mainland. Obviously, we also run most of the Toys 'R' Us' in Canada; it really is the perfect alibi. That's aside from the point, though.

"Your job, Naruto, is going to be supplying drugs to the younger clients. So far we've been having Konan give them, but it still looks quite out of place for a grown woman to be giving something to a youth." He stood from his seat and made his way over to me, "Now, you won't have to worry about any dark ally ways or scammers. All dealing is done at predetermined locations, chosen by us of course, that are under constant surveillance by yours truly. Nothing can go wrong. Do you follow so far?"

I swallowed nervously. I felt as if my heart was being squeezed out of my chest at the thought of giving something that can ruin lives to someone, but I knew I had no choice. So I nodded.

"Good." A file was handed to Tobi, who read it briefly before looking back to me. "First matter of business. You will be giving Sasuke Uchiha a double dosage of Cocaine."

"What?" I shouted, rising quickly to my feet. The entire room shifted, all the members stepping just slightly closer to me. "You said you wouldn't hurt them, mentally or physically!"

"_I_ am not hurting anyone, Naruto. You will be doing it." He cleared his throat before reading from the file in his hands. "Sasuke Uchiha, 17 years old. Born July 23, 1994 in Burnaby, BC. Currently attends Vancouver Central Secondary and lives at 14th Avenue. He lives alone. All immediate relatives have been killed by his older brother, Itachi Uchiha, over a four-year period."

"I get it!" I shouted. My voice shook slightly, "You know everything about him."

"Yes, we do." Tobi placed the folder on the desk, "Now, you have two options here. You can do as we say and administer the drugs without his knowledge whenever we tell you to—and we will be watching, Naruto—or, we can kill him, along with the rest of your friends."

I closed my eyes, my shoulders drooping in defeat. I had no choice. I was going to have to force Sasuke into an addiction he didn't want. And, by the sounds of it, I would have to continue to feed that addiction when I was told to. When I spoke, it was barely above a whisper, "Fine."

"What was that?"

"I said _fine_!" I growled, "Now what the fuck do you want me to do? How the hell do you propose I give it to him without him knowing?"

"Ah, that's quite simple. Cocaine dissolves very easily in liquid. Simply slip it into his drink at some point, he won't know any better." Tobi handed me a small bag containing a white powder. "Make sure all of it is in there, too."

I nodded and reached out to grab it, my hands shaking slightly. "Are we done?"

Tobi nodded, "For now."

* * *

><p>For the next week, I was a mess. I jumped at every sound, looked over my shoulder at every corner. I felt as if I was constantly being watched, and I was almost positive it was a rational fear. I knew Tobi was waiting for me to give Sasuke the drug, and I knew that he would be getting impatient soon.<p>

"What's the matter with you, Naruto?" Sakura asked, making me jump, "You've been acting strange all week."

"It's nothing." I told her quickly, not missing the look Sasuke gave me.

"If you say so…"

I stood up suddenly, the chair I was sitting on almost falling over. "I'm thirsty, is anyone else thirsty?"

Sakura looked startled, but she nodded, "Sure… a little bit."

"I'll go get us drinks." I walked away from the table we were sitting at, moving through the packed cafeteria to the pop dispenser. I grabbed three cups and placed them on the counter. I started to fill Sakura's first, thinking of how to slip the drugs into Sasuke's without anyone seeing. Deciding it would be easiest to do it as the pop was filling into the cup; I grabbed the bag out of my hoodie pocket. I made sure it was open, then I placed it into my palm before pressing the button for the Coca-Cola, Sasuke's favorite. I watched the powder falling into the drink with the brown liquid, my stomach knotting tightly and my throat closing up. I had to keep reminding myself of what would happen if I didn't do this so I didn't dump the drink.

I quickly filled my own drink, before walking back to our table. I tried to keep my face impassive as I handed Sasuke his drink, but I ended up having to look away from him. I half expected him to know something was wrong and confront me, but he didn't. I watched as he lifted the cup and took a drink from it. There was no hesitation as he put it back on the table, no change in his facial expression or anything. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, though I still felt like I was going to be sick. I couldn't believe what I had just done.

"Hey, Naruto, are you sure you're okay?" Sakura asked, "You look like you're going to be sick."

"I'm fine."

"But…"

"Just drop it, Sakura." Sasuke said out of nowhere. He took another swig of his drink, and I noticed his leg starting to bounce under the table. I swallowed nervously, knowing it had already started. I didn't expect it to work that fast. I dropped my gaze, staring at the table.

"You don't have to be so mean…" She said.

"Ugh, you annoy me so much." My head snapped up. Sasuke was drinking his Coke quickly now, as if he couldn't get enough of it. He seemed to almost be vibrating and he looked more energetic than I'd ever seen him.

"Excuse me?"

"Seriously, all you ever do is _talk_. It's horrible." He crinkled his nose, lifting his cup to finish it off before looking into it sadly. He turned to me, "It's all gone."

I couldn't reply, simply nodding to him. Sakura, on the other hand, looked murderous. "Is that really any way to treat your _girlfriend_?"

"Ugh, I'm only dating you because you're slightly less annoying than Ino." My jaw dropped, and Sakura let out a shriek of anger. I couldn't believe he had said that, though I didn't doubt it was true. I knew he wouldn't have admitted it to her if it weren't for the drugs, and I realized I had just caused a relationship to end.

"What the hell, Sasuke!"

"You were both so annoying, so _clingy_. I thought if I just sucked it up and dated one of you it would stop, but then I just had you hanging all over me _all the time._"

"You know what? We're _over_ then! God, you're such an insensitive ass!" She stood up, but just before she was about to walk away Sasuke opened his mouth again.

"Good riddance to ya!"

I swear I could see steam coming off her at that point. A lot of the people had turned to watch them bicker half way through, and most of them were whispering at this point. I saw her square her shoulders, then she turned back to the table and grabbed her drink. I noticed what she was planning a second too late, and before I could do anything Sasuke had an entire glass of Sprite poured over his head.

"Okay!" I said, standing up quickly, "I think I'm just going to take this knucklehead home. You guys can talk this out tomorrow, yeah?"

"**No!**" Both of them shouted at me. Sakura stormed off towards Ino (I'm assuming she was planning to make amends) and I grabbed a hold of Sasuke's forearm to pull him up.

"I can't go home, I have class…"

"There's no way you're going to class the way you are now."

"What do you mean?" He didn't protest as I led him out of the cafeteria and towards the front of the school, which I was grateful for, "I feel fantastic!"

"I'm sure you do." I muttered under my breath.

* * *

><p>"Sasuke, can you <em>please<em> at least _try_ to walk in a straight line?" I asked. He was leaning heavily against me as we walked, and he kept pointing out random things in the sky and along the street. We were less than a block away from his house, and I just wanted to get off the streets before someone stopped us to ask what the hell was wrong with him.

My phone started to ring, and I struggled to hold Sasuke up with one hand so I could grab it out of my pocket. "Hello?"

"Congratulations on completing your first task. Good thing, too, I was starting to worry about the well being of one Mrs. Sakura Haruno."

"Yeah, well, you don't really have to worry about it anymore, do you?"

"Hm, not yet."

"Is that all?"

"No. As soon as you get Mr. Uchiha home, you need to meet Kisame for his next dosage."

"I don't think leaving Sasuke alone in a house right now is a good idea…"

"You have nothing to worry about; he'll be waiting just outside his home."

I clenched my jaw, spitting the word through my teeth, "Fine."

"Oh, and Naruto? This dosage will be given to him in two days time, or Mrs. Haruno will die." The line went dead, and it took all my self control to stop myself from throwing my phone onto the ground. We had just reached Sasuke's house, and as I helped him open the door I saw a figure move out of the corner of my eye.

"I'll be right in, okay Sasuke?" I asked, but he was in a world of his own. Never before had I seen him so _happy_, it was actually quite unnerving. I closed the door over and walked towards the figure I had seen.

"Gotta admit I didn't actually think you'd do it." I jumped at the sound of Kisame's voice, turning to face him. He pushed off where he was leaning on the side of Sasuke's house, walking towards me. He held out his hand as if to introduce himself, and I took it. The bag of white power was resting in his palm. "Seeya later, kid."

I nodded to him, keeping my face impassive. He smirked and walked away from me. A crash came from inside Sasuke's house, snapping me back to reality. I checked my phone for the time quickly before rushing inside. I only had to deal with this for fifteen more minutes, if I was lucky and the internet was right.

* * *

><p>I couldn't stop pacing. It was getting close to midnight already, but I just couldn't stop thinking about what I had just done. Sasuke had fallen asleep around 6:00—after telling me a lot of things I really didn't need to know—and I had called Kakashi slightly after to tell him I had to stay with Sasuke because he hadn't been feeling well at school and I didn't feel comfortable leaving him alone. Much to my amazement, Kakashi hadn't argued.<p>

I hated this. I hated knowing I had just done that to him. The small bag in my pocket felt like a giant weight sitting directly on my chest. As much as I tried to remind myself that this was the only way to stop the Akatsuki from killing everyone, I couldn't help but hate myself for it.

Sasuke screaming pulled me out of my thoughts. I ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. When I reached his bedroom I saw he was writhing on the bed, covered in sweat. His eyebrows were furrowed and his back arched slightly off the bed.

"Sasuke!" I said, shaking his shoulder gently. He didn't wake up, so I grabbed both his shoulders and shook. He let out a shout, but his eyes flew open. He looked around with a dazed expression before we made eye contact. He simply stared at me for a moment, panting and out of breath. I still had a strong grip on his forearms.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Y-yeah." He shook his head, and I dropped my hands. "It was just a nightmare."

"Do you… wanna talk about it?" I asked hesitantly, sitting on the bed.

"It wasn't a big deal." He rubbed at his eyes, "Ugh, I feel like shit. Wait… what are you even doing here?"

My heart sped up instantaneously, and I spit out the first thing that came to mind, "You were acting really weird; I didn't want to leave you alone."

"Oh." He tilted his head, "Did Sakura dump me?"

"Yeah… sorry about that."

"Trust me, I'm grateful. Maybe they'll leave me alone now." He yawned, stretching his arms above his head. I found myself staring at his chest, and suddenly regretted making him strip down to his boxers before passing out.

I stood up quickly, clearing my throat and adverting my gaze. "Well, now that you're better I think I'm just going to go home."

"Yeah, okay. But you can stay. Y'know, if you don't want to walk home in the dark."

I hesitated before nodding, "Thanks, Sasuke."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **All information about cocaine/withdrawal his been found on _Google_. I have no experience with drugs or withdrawal, so I'm sorry if it's inaccurate at points. I hope you'll be able to look past it! :)


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